Myers Leonard & Cody Zeller

I

ICHAWK

Well-Known Member
When was last time there were two players this skilled in the Big 10 that are 6'11 to 7'0....

Zeller as a freshmen is a lot better than Leonard was as a freshmen but Leonard has made vast improvement going into his sophomore year.

These two guys are legit and both projected to be top 20 picks in the NBA draft if they chose to leave early. I think both would benefit from sticking in college for 3 years and at that point should have the strength needed to become pros.
 
HawkeyeRyno said:
Expect the same with Leonard when we play AT Illinois
Click to expand...

Illinois can be dumb and not get the ball to Leonard at times. Let's hope for that!

Illinois is a tough match up. NBA caliber center, guards who can dribble drive, and some good length.

That Maniscalco (Spelling?) guy sucks so lets hope Webber plays him.
 
I don't watch too many Illinois games but the complaint I have heard from some of their fans is that they are athletic but play a slow down game not taking advantage of their skills. I have seem them do this at times my self and I hope they do it against us.
 
bcl20 said:
I don't watch too many Illinois games but the complaint I have heard from some of their fans is that they are athletic but play a slow down game not taking advantage of their skills. I have seem them do this at times my self and I hope they do it against us.
Click to expand...

It's true. Bruce Webber is a classic over coaching college coach at times. Illinois should play way more uptempo than they do at times. It's like Webber is trying to prove how good of a coach he is. Everyone on that team runs the floor extremely well and they should suffocate teams defensively and run, run, run.

I fear the on ball pressure they can put on Iowa. Iowa scores fine against teams that let them get into sets and move around. Ohio State and MSU just got in Iowa's face all game and did not let them do much of anything. Illinois can replicate that type of pressure.
 
ICHAWK said:
It's true. Bruce Webber is a classic over coaching college coach at times. Illinois should play way more uptempo than they do at times. It's like Webber is trying to prove how good of a coach he is. Everyone on that team runs the floor extremely well and they should suffocate teams defensively and run, run, run.

I fear the on ball pressure they can put on Iowa. Iowa scores fine against teams that let them get into sets and move around. Ohio State and MSU just got in Iowa's face all game and did not let them do much of anything. Illinois can replicate that type of pressure.
Click to expand...

Weber is an absolute moron. That team should be materially better than it's record shows now with Paul and Leonard, but Weber slows it way down and then has Leonard launching 17 footers. Hell, 80% of Weber's offense is based on shots just inside the arc and they spend no time working on three point shooting in practice.

That is a team that is 10x more talented than us that we can beat simply due to Weber's style. We will also lose by 30 if Weber isn't an idiot and gets Leonard working inside on us, though.
 
Got to agree with what's been said about Illinois here. I've only seen one game of theirs this year (narrow home win vs. Nebraska), and they had great one-on-one matchups, but didn't isolate any of them or have any good movement and flow on offense.

Getting blown out in Champaign is old hat for the Hawkeyes, though.
 
Cover3 said:
Got to agree with what's been said about Illinois here. I've only seen one game of theirs this year (narrow home win vs. Nebraska), and they had great one-on-one matchups, but didn't isolate any of them or have any good movement and flow on offense.

Getting blown out in Champaign is old hat for the Hawkeyes, though.
Click to expand...

Champaign is a tough environment. Their crowd definitely picks it up a nothch when they play Indiana and Iowa.

The guards at Illinois guards seem to want to shoot a lot of jump shots. There will be multiple possiessions when the guards just ingore Leonard or are not patient enough to let him get position to pass him the ball. It's like they don't realize they are playing with a player who is projected as a top 20 pick in the NBA. Let him get the ball and kick it back out for a jump shot.
 
I expect Leonard to go to the draft this year and be a top 20 pick. He has family financial issues with his dad deceased and his mom disabled with serious back problem that needs surgery probably. His brother is deployed in Afghanistan.

Zeller will stick around,and be very good for the next 2-3 years.
Of course, Iowa made it easy for Zeller yesterday.
But, the kid has good hands,is smart,and good ball skills.
 
The sharks are circling in Champaign. There are those that think their new AD will fire Weber at the end of the season. .500 in the B1O doesn't work there.
 
Auggie said:
The sharks are circling in Champaign. There are those that think their new AD will fire Weber at the end of the season. .500 in the B1O doesn't work there.
Click to expand...

I would be giddy as hell if that happened. Down goes the Zooker and then down goes Weber. What a great year this could be!!!!!!
 
I think Iowa is actually pretty good at dictating tempo. The only problem is when we dictate the tempo against teams that are clearly more athletic than we are (Ohio State, Michigan State, Indiana). I'm afraid Illinois could be similar. I feel like we've become therapy for teams that are struggling on the offensive end. We simply need quicker guards. I think Clemmons and Gessel and Ingram should solve that.
 
I hope they both go pro...that way those teams lose very valuable players. Then Iowa gets its new players and improves and the other teams lose something...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Share this page

Top